The first day of senior year approached for Rosalie and Jasper. Technically it was the second week of school, but for Rose and Jasper, it was their first day.
"Tempo per la scuola." Rosella stated, handing Jasper and Rosalie a bagged lunch.
"Mommy if you love us, you wouldn't do this!" Rose pleaded, setting her lunch back onto the counter.
"I'm doing this because I love you." Rosella whispered, grabbing Rose's lunch to hand it back to her.
"You get to stay home, plot, and plan deaths. That's not fair!" Jasper exclaimed, looking through his lunch.
"We'll save you a kill." Tony promised, grabbing both the lunches from them, "Buy yourselves some lunch today. Cold lasagna isn't really good."
Jasper opened the front door and noticed Paolo pull up with Carlo in the passenger seat.
"No! Mi rifiuto!" Jasper shouted, slamming the door close, "We go to school on our own terms. We agreed not to bring any weapons to school, so you have to agree that we can go to school on our own!"
"This isn't up for discussion! My sister died! I'll be damned if you do too! They're going! Now go before you're late!" Tony hollered, opening the door for them to leave.
"It was worth a try Jazz." Rose whispered, grabbing her large purse.
"Rosalie!" Rosella called out, holding her hand out towards her, "Hand it over."
Rose sighed to herself as she went into her back pocket and pulled out a knife.
"It was just in case." Rose whispered, passing it to her mother.
Antonio sighed to himself as he held his hand out to Jasper. Jasper rolled his eyes as he lifted his shirt to pull his gun out of his front pocket.
"I blame you for this." Rosella muttered, shaking her head as she closed the door.
Edward Cullen stood in front of Brooklyn High with Alice Brandon and Bella Swan. Teens always hung out before school in front of the building. It's been rumors going around New York that the Romano children were enrolling into the school. Out of fear, parents transferred their children to other schools.
A black SUV nobody recognized pulled into the school parking lot. It caught every parent, staff member and student's attention. Paolo hopped out of the car, eyes hidden behind his dark sunglasses and opened the back door for Rosalie. Jasper nodded his head towards Carlo as he got out of the car.
When parents realized who the two teens were they scurried to their cars and left in fear, with their children in the back seat. Rosalie laughed to herself as her and Jasper walked slowly up to the school building, with Paolo and Carlo watching, but at a distance.
Bella quickly latched onto Edward out of fear. Alice kept her distance, but gawked at Jasper from afar.
"Ask them." Rose whispered, averting her eyes to Edward and Bella.
"Okay." Jasper sighed, passing a wink in Alice's direction.
Rose ran her fingers through her curled hair before turning towards Edward and Bella.
"Where's the office?" Jasper asked, struggling to sound polite.
Edward and Bella stared at them in shock and fear. They didn't say a word. They didn't mumble a sound. They didn't even breathe.
"Did you hear me?" Jasper questioned, feeling anger boil up inside of him.
"Mantenere la calma." Rose whispered, stepping in front of him, "Hi, I'm Rosalie. What are your names?"
Jasper couldn't help but laugh at his sister's attempt to sound sweet and well-mannered. Rosalie quickly glared at him, before turning back to smile at Edward and Bella.
"That's Ed…Edward. I'm Bel…Bella." Bella introduced, shaking Rosalie's hand that was out.
"Bella." Rose started, as the Italian/Brooklyn accent became evident in her voice, "That means beautiful in Italian."
Bella blushed as she calmed down. She waved them towards her and opened the front door of the school.
"The office is straight down the hall and then to the left. You should see it. I can take you if you want." Bella offered, confident in her new acquaintances.
"No. Sará tutto, grazie." Jasper mumbled, as Bella stared in confusion.
She had no idea what he had just said. Edward quickly pulled her into his arms, as Paolo and Carlo followed them into the building.
"She seems nice." Bella proclaimed, as Alice blinked back the thoughts going through her mind.
"Yeah, looks are deceiving. I've heard that their father enrolled her in knife throwing and sword fighting classes when she was five!" Edward bellowed, as Rose looked back and glared.
"Attento a quello che pettegolezzi, alcune cose non é vero, ma alcune cose é." Rose growled, feeling around her back pocket, before remembering her mother took her knife, "I don't like to be talked about. I have ears everywhere, so watch what names come out of your mouths."
Jasper glanced at Paolo and Carlo and nodded. Edward, Alice, and Bella followed his eyes to see Paolo and Carlo raise their shirts up a few inches to flash their guns.
"And no one will ever find your body." Jasper added, to add effect before erupting into a loud laugh.
Rosalie and Jasper left the three friends standing in fear. Bella, Edward and Alice decided to head straight to class, without making any stops.
The twins stopped outside of the office as Carlo pushed open the door. Paolo walked behind the two as they entered.
"Rosalie and Jasper Romano? Right?" the principal asked, as they nodded, "I'm Principal Fitzgerald. I've been waiting for you two. I have your schedules right here. I know it's the second week of school, but I'm sure the two of you will fit in perfectly here."
"Yeah, I doubt that." Jasper mumbled, staring through the office window, watching as students passed.
Jasper took a seat in front of the office with Rose.
"We only have three classes together." Rose informed, looking between her and Jasper's schedules.
"And lunch." he added, looking up to face Carlo, "Ready?"
Jasper stood up and followed Rosalie out of the office. English, Math and Spanish were the only classes the twins had together. They walked down the hall and smiled as students backed away from them out of fear.
"This might not be as bad as we thought it would!" Jasper laughed, as he grabbed a student's arm to stop him from walking, "Where's this locker at?"
"Um, it's…ugh, right over there!" he quickly answered, before scurrying away.
"I don't really like this. I feel like the odd ball." Rose whispered, following Jasper towards their lockers, "It feels like everyone is staring at us."
"Because everyone is staring at us Rose." Jasper asserted, approaching their lockers, which was posted next to each other.
Jasper placed his jacket inside before slamming it shut. Rosalie held tightly onto her purse as she followed Jasper down the hallway.
"Seriously?" Rosalie hollered, turning to face two girls staring at her, "If you take a picture, trust me, it'll last longer!"
Jasper laughed as he watched his sister shove her cell phone back into her pocket. The two girls quickly turned away from Rose and faced their lockers. He threw his arm around her shoulders as they continued to head to class.
"We'll be right out here when your class ends." Carlo informed, leaning against the wall next to the classroom.
"I hate this." Jasper growled, glaring at the students as they entered the English class.
First period was boring to Jasper, but exciting for Rosalie. English was always her best subject. She was ahead of the game. Seems, the class had summer reading on two Shakespeare plays; Hamlet and Othello. They had a paper due about how manipulation is evident in each play. She smiled as the students groaned about the homework.
Jasper enjoyed the first few minutes of the period because he could tell Mrs. Hanigan was a little fearful and skeptical about teaching the children of an Italian mobster. It got boring when Mrs. Hanigan started to come around and treat them like every other student.
When second period rolled around, Jasper deemed it the most dreadful time of the school day. He couldn't stand their math teacher, Mr. Archer. Mr. Archer was old and fearless. He hated the Romano twins the most. Once they walked in the classroom, he ordered them to sit in the front so he could keep a watchful eye on the two. When he asked a question, and no one knew the answer, he called on one of the twins. Once the bell signaling class was dismissed rang, Rose and Jasper couldn't wait to rush out, until Mr. Archer called them back. He left them with a thought to remember…He didn't care who their parents are, he doesn't care who they are, they will be treated the same as everyone else in the class, they will receive no special rights and/or privileges.
"Thank you!" Rosalie exclaimed, before scurrying out of the class.
Mr. Archer sat back in his seat, with the most confused expression on his face. Carlo and Paolo waited outside the classroom, ready to walk them to lunch.
"You may go," Mr. Archer sighed, waving Jasper away, "this conversation is over."
"No." Jasper remarked, closing the door behind Rose, "I don't think it is…" he paused to turn and face his math teacher, "You left us with a thought, now I'm going to leave you with one. I don't care what you have against my father, it has nothing to do with me and my sister. So keep it between you and him. If I suspect foul play going on with how we're treated in class or our grades, I will go down to the Board of Education, hmm and if that doesn't work, I'll just bring my father in for a parent-teacher conference."
The young Romano turned on his heel and walked out of Mr. Archer's room proudly. The elder teacher was left sitting at his desk, speechless.
Jasper followed Paolo, Carlo and Rosalie towards the lunchroom. By now, whoever had the first lunch was already inside since the bell had rung.
"School may not be as bad as I thought." Rose whispered towards her brother, as they stepped into the cafeteria, "On second thought…" she paused, to look around at everyone staring at them, "Yes everyone, it's really us!"
A few kids looked away after Rose's comment, but others continued to stare.
"We'll wait for you in the hallway." Paolo informed, exiting the cafeteria with Carlo.
"Punks." Jasper remarked, shaking his head.
Rose and Jasper quickly got their foot since once they stood in line, the students who were already in line got out. Everyone who had empty seats next to them placed a bag or something of their possession into the seat so Rose and Jasper wouldn't sit next to them.
"Hey Rosalie!" Alice called out, waving them over, "Jasper! Over here!"
Rose motioned for her brother to follow her. "Thanks." Rose whispered, taking a seat, as an awkward silence fell over the table.
"Don't worry about it." Edward assured, nodding his head, before biting into his apple.
The teenagers sat around the table and ate their lunch in silence. When lunch was over, Jasper and Rosalie headed there separate ways since they had a different class.
School seemed to only get worse, especially when they weren't together. Students stared at Rosalie like she had a third eye. In science, Jasper was seated all by himself. No student wanted to sit next to him.
A huge sigh of relief blew out of both of them as the school bell rang, signaling school was over for the day. Jasper waited for his sister by their lockers, as Paolo ventured out to the school parking lot to check and make sure the car was safe. Luciana died in a car bomb. Tony would have their heads for dinner if anything were to happen to his children.
Paolo nodded his head, giving Carlo, Rosalie and Jasper the go ahead to come to the car.
"I'm so glad this day is almost over!" Rose proclaimed, slamming the car door shut.
"I'm excited about tomorrow." Jasper informed, buckling his seat belt.
"Why is that? You're so anti-social! I highly doubt you made any friends." Rose responded, rolling her window down.
"I don't know. I kind of enjoy everyone's reactions when they see us." he answered, as Paolo started up the car.
Rosalie couldn't help, but stare out the window. High school kids were joking around as they hopped into their car or onto the school bus. She could only imagine herself as one of them. Not having a care in the world. Not having to watch your back every second. Not having a personal body guard literally follow you everywhere, even to the restroom.
Jasper loved his life. He was the perfect son for Antonio Romano. Although Lucas would be the one to take over Tony's job since he's the oldest, Jasper would be his right hand man. Kind of like the guy who the boss consults with…
Throughout their childhood Rosalie always wanted to feel normal…or what she considered to be normal. When they were younger, their mother would take them to the park with groups of kids playing on the playground. By the time Rosalie and her brothers approached the playground, parents already had their children loaded in the car. The Romano children, including Bianca and Dino Cardoza didn't have many friends. The family was considered friends. The only friend outside of the family Rosalie had was Lauren, who happened to be Paolo's daughter. They have known each other since Paolo started working for her dad, both girls were around four.
Paolo was like a second father to Rosalie, since he followed her every move since she was four years old. Lauren lives in northern New Jersey, about three minutes from the New Jersey border. It would take thirty-five minutes for Lauren to drive from her house to Rose's. Lauren attends private school with other well-off children, even though she isn't. Tony is paying her way.
Rosalie followed Jasper into their incredibly large house. It had to be large, considering it housed the entire Romano family, including their in-laws and the people who work for them. With that said, the huge house sometimes did feel small.
"Hi dad!" Lauren greeted, waving at her father, before turning to Rose, "So, how was school?"
Tony and Rosella walked into the living room of their house to greet their children.
"Did you guys have fun? Make any new friends?" Ella questioned, gesturing for everyone to take a seat.
"Friends? Ha! You're a comedian mom!" Jasper laughed out, shaking his head, before exiting the living room with Carlo.
"No friends?" Ella said, pouting while patting the seat next to her for Rose, "What happened?"
"Nothing horrible." Rose answered, taking the seat that was offered, "You just can't expect kids to want to be friends with children of a mafia. I don't blame them though, I wouldn't want to be my friend either. Everyone knows what dad does and everyone knows what he is capable of, who would want to risk getting hurt just to be friends with his kids?"
Rosella pulled her daughter into a hug before pecking her forehead.
"I'm friends with you." Lauren spoke up, as silence filled the room.
"You don't count." Rose remarked, pulling away from her mother.
"You're family!" Tony asserted, patting Lauren's head, before approaching his daughter, "Hmm, how about I take you and Jasper to school tomorrow and get you some friends? Whoever you want. You choose."
"No!" Rose and Rosella bellowed, quickly shaking their heads.
"Threatening and hurting children isn't the way to get friends Tony!" Ella scolded, grabbing onto her husband's hand.
Tony brushed down on the fabric of his suit before pulling a cigar out of his pocket. He leaned towards Salvatore to allow him to light it.
"I wasn't going to hurt or threaten anyone." Tony replied, blowing out cigar smoke, "I was simply going to nicely insist on them giving my children a chance."
"You and nice shouldn't even be in the same sentence!" Lucas laughed, making his presence known.
Lucas flexed his large biceps as he used the towel around his neck to wipe the sweat. He usually spends his days working out, eating and getting the insight to what's going on in the 'family business.'
"Dad," Lucas muttered, waiting for his father's attention, "The shipment just arrived."
Tony nodded his head before turning towards his daughter.
"What are you two doing the rest of the evening?"
"Going to the mall." Lauren answered, walking over to her father, "Maybe a little shopping."
Tony nodded his head, giving Paolo the okay. Paolo threw his arm around Lauren's shoulders before escorting the girls out of the house.
Tony walked around to the back of the house to see some crates of drugs, including prescription drugs being loaded into the house. Other crates consisted of coffee beans, to hold up the front. In Brooklyn, the Romano's own a coffee shop, which is basically a front for their illegal trading and selling.
Tony nodded to his son, completely proud of him as he passed his father a cigar.
